House, Max, and disaster
by Dove11
Summary: Fang, Max, Iggy, and Angel are on their way to NYC when an obstacle leads them to Princeton Plainsborogh, and therefor House.  Warning: Fax and Huddy might occur.
1. Chapter 1

Max's POV

The pain was terrible. Worse than being hit by a truck. My stomach felt like shards of glass were exploding in all directions. I screamed. This was worse than the headaches. Far worse.

"Are you okay?" Fang asked in a tentative voice.

I think I got a groan out.

"What's wrong with you?" Iggy said, just waking up. No one else was up, it was only four a.m.

But, God the _pain_.

"Max?" Fang asked, "Is it your head?"

"It's her stomach," Angel said in a tired voice.

Oh great, now everyone was up.

Gazzy and Nudge were still at Mom's. They wanted a break from all of the action. We were on our way to New York to find some more information on where we came from. Because the _Institute For Higher Living_ is the top vacation spot this season.

"Yurpleyup," I attempted to speak.

"Iggy, can you hand me the phone? I'm calling an ambulance," Fang said in a firm but gentle tone.

"No," I yelled, but it sounded more like, "Newoui!"

"Iggy, hand me the damn phone!" Fang yelled sounding worried.

"She isn't gunna like it!" Iggy said, handing Fang the phone.

xXx

Fang was practically dragging me to the ambulance. This was not going to be good. Fang and Iggy were going to get it. As soon as my stomach stopped exploding, that is.

"Get her on a stretcher!" EMT #1 said to all of the others.

This would be fun, just me, Iggy, Fang, Angel, and like three other guys all in a cramped space for more than five minutes, oh joy.

Once I was in the ambulance the pain only got worse.

"What's wrong with her?" EMT #2 asked.

"She has a stomach ache," Fang said simply, never letting go of my hand.

"What's her name, and I'm going to need all of yours too," EMT#1 said.

"Her name is Max, my name is A-," Angel started to say but she was cut off by Fang's hand over her mouth. I sent mental thanks to Fang.

"Her name is Max, my name is Luke, her name is Molly, and his name is Nick," Iggy said gesturing toward everyone in turn.

"Did your mother ever tell you that it is rude not to look at an adult when they are talking to you?" EMT#1 said.

"Did your mother ever teach you not to insult blind guys?" Iggy said in a sarcastic tone.

Go Ig!

"Where are your parents?" EMT #3 asked.

"We don't have any…" Fang said quietly.

"Oh…" They all said.

_You have no idea_, I thought.

"Uh oh, Fa- I mean Nick what does that mean?" Angel asked Fang sounding scared.

Oh, how I wanted to comfort her!

Hell, I couldn't even comfort myself.

"Max, are you okay?"

_Oh no, I must be groaning._

I bit my lip in hopes of concealing my screams.

I hate being like this, and I'm not a pain showing kind of person.

_Crap, __**what**__ is wrong with me?_

xXx

House's POV

"Good morning Cuddles," I said walking into the hospital at about ten a.m.

"You've got a case," Cuddy said, dropping a file in his hands.

"No 'Good Morning House, how are you this morning'?" I said sarcastically. I loved making her mad. It was the best thing to do besides help people. But with people like Wilson on my back, I will never admit that I enjoy making people better. All in all, I love what I do. It's my guilty pleasure.

"Good Morning House, you have a case. Better?"

"Much."

"16 year old girl, checked in here at four thirty this morning. She has a pain in her abdomen. She says the pain is only getting worse, and she won't let any of the nurses touch her back, and she won't change into a hospital gown."

"Fine, I'll take the case."

"Really?" A look of pure disbelief on Cuddy's face.

"Only because, she probably had some bad seafood."

"I don't know, there is something about this one House…"

xXx

….

R&R?

Pleezyz?


	2. Chapter 2

House's POV

I walked into the "special" girl's room.

"So, does wittle girlies tummy hurt?" I said my voice thick with sarcasm.

"Who the hell are you," the Goth kid on her right hissed.

"I'm her doctor, and guessing by your protective comeback you're her boyfriend," as I said this, his face turned a deep shade of red, while the pale kid and the little girl on her other side laughed hysterically.

"I'm not her boyfriend," he muttered.

"Well, I'm Dr. House, and who might you be?" I said in a mockly polite tone.

"I'm Luke, she's Molly, and he's Nick," Pale kid (Luke) said.

"How about the sick one?" I asked.

"Max," the little one said.

"How do you guys know "Max", here?" I asked becoming impatient, "And where are your parents?"

"They're on vacation, in Mali, there's no way to reach them, no phones, and we don't know where in Mali they are," Luke said, staring right past me. Why was he doing that?

"He's blind," Molly said. That was creepy.

Max sat up and groaned, clearly just waking up. She turned to Nick, "I feel like shi-," she cut off, turning to me.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Do you always lack respect toward adults?" I said, my tone one of annoyance.

"Shut up," Nick said in a growl. Max looked at him seeing the pure hatred on his face, being directed toward me. The usual.

"What do you mean?" Molly said, a confused look on her face.

"I didn't say anything," I said.

"Okay, So what's wrong with me?" Max asked.

"We don't know yet. We aren't magicians you know, against common belief," I said rolling my eyes as I spoke.

At that moment Max cried out, and started to seize.

xXx

Iggy's POV

"DO SOMETHING!" Fang and I yelled.

"I just did," The jerk that was Max's doctor snapped.

Angel started crying and screaming Max' name. Poor kid that was basically her mom. In a weird way. Still, she had it better than I did, I didn't know what was happening, other than the fact that Max was shaking the bed and not breathing normally.

"What's happening?" I yelled at Doc.

"She's seizing," He said calmly as I heard about five more people rush into the room.

Max. Without her certain death faced us all. We needed her. She needed us. She had to be alright.

xXx

Angel's POV.

"DO SOMETHING!" Fang and Iggy yelled.

"I just did," Dr. Meany said, pushing a red button.

"MAX!" I screamed. She had to be alright. Fang was holding back Max's shoulders, tears streaming down his face. Fang never cried, never. Was Max dying?

"What's happening," Iggy yelled.

"She's seizing," Dr. Meany said.

Five women in blue shirts and pants came rushing in, pushing Fang and Iggy aside.

"LET GO OF ME!" Iggy shouted.

"Max!" Fang yelled

A lady started to pull me away from Max.

"MAX!" I screamed, "MAX!"

She couldn't die. She couldn't.

xXx

Fang's POV

"DO SOMETHING!" Iggy and I shouted.

"I just did," The satanic bastard said, stepping away from a red button.

"MAX!" Angel started to cry.

I grabbed Max's shoulders, attempting to stop the shaking.

"What's happening?" Iggy asked.

"She's seizing," Dr. Satanic said.

A bunch of nurses rushed in, pulling me away from Max. I tried to fight them off, realizing the tears running down my face.

"LET GO OF ME!" Iggy screamed.

"MAX!" I yelled, surrendering to the nurses.

"Max!" Angel screamed, "Max!"

Iggy followed us outside, tears silently flowing out of his unseeing eyes.

Max couldn't die. Not before I told her that I love her.

…xXx…

Reviews make me happy.

This is a dramatic story, I apologize.

I kind a like the escalating Fax though.


	3. chapter two add on

Max's POV

My body is… tingly. Now I can't feel anything, what's going on? _Help_, I try to say. _HELP ME_ I scream in my head. _I can't move…Oh help!_

I hear Fang and Iggy scream. _They shouldn't yell, they should __**help. **_Oh, no now Angel is screaming.

_What is happening to me now?_

_Fang, I can't die before I tell Fang-_

xXx

All done now! Moving on….

R&R?


	4. Chapter 4

Sry its been a while!

Sorry to all atheists, just trying to up the sappyness factor.

I promise 2 update a ton!

Suggestions are appreciated!

xXx

Max's POV

I opened my eyes slowly, looking up. I saw a white ceiling. The smell of antiseptic slithered throughout my nose, florescent lights blinded me; a white coat passed my line of sight.

_Where am I?_

Like a wall of bricks my memories of the last 24 hours came rushing back.

I looked around, not daring to move. I saw Fang sitting hunched over in a chair beside my bed.

"Umm…God? Yeah…hi. It's umm…been awhile. I'm not sure…umm… how to put this… The reason I'm umm…praying right now is….uhhhh….Well, no offense or anything, but…. Max can't die before I tell her what I umm… Need to tell her. I need her too much. If she were to die I would be following close behind. Angel and Nudge need her too. She's like a mom to them. But I really do need her. If you want to take someone take me! Just not her…So umm…Amen or whatever…." Fang looked up and saw the tears falling down my face.

"Max? Are you okay?"

"I'm …I'm fine," I said, whipping the tears from my face.

He sat down and looked at me.

"I know it's hard," He said, taking my hand in his.

"Wha-What happened?" I asked not sure if I wanted to know the answer.

His voice changed to a whisper, his eyes wide with worry. Or was it fear?

"Max, you had a seizure," He said, obviously not prepared for the fresh wave of tears falling down my face.

He embraced my in his strong arms.

"Hey, Hey, everything's gonna be okay," he said into my hair.

Suddenly Fang stiffened and let go of me. I looked at him with confusion on my face, then I saw who he was glaring at.

"Awww, how sweet!" Dr. House said, clapping sarcastically.

"What's wrong with me Doc?"

"We aren't sure yet but I have a theory," he said looking as if he had no theory.

"That's a start," Fang mumbled.

"Have you ever been to a tropical place before?" Dr. House asked.

"Does Hawaii count?" I asked.

"Yep…" He said, clearly deep in thought as he walked out of the room.

xXx

Iggy's POV

"When will Max wake up?" Angel asked worry in her tiny voice.

"I don't know kiddo," I said, wondering that same question.

She took my hand and we walked into the food court.

"What would yawl like today?" A woman with a thick southern accent asked.

"Ig, can I get a cookie?" Angel asked. She sounded distracted. Poor kid, Max was basically her mom.

"Sure kid," I said, handing her some money.

My mind was on Max and her worsening condition. I couldn't imagine Max in such a weakened position.

She was our fearless leader, right?

xXx

Reviews?

Sorry my internet has been down! Please comment if you like it, even if you don't!

Tell me what you think!


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry It took forever! Exams and junk! Sorry! And Im sorry for this short chapter, but there WILL be more!

xXx

Gazzy's POV

_Ring, ring_

"Hello?" I asked. This better be important, I was working on Iggy's "special" present. Would chlorine and acetone be deadly for Dr. M's kitchen table? Oh, well.

"Ah, yes, this is Princeton Plainsborough Hospital, May I speak with a…Dr. Martinez?" A squeaky voice on the other line asked.

"Uhh…Sure, who did you say you were again?" I asked cautiously. Could this lady work for Itex?

"This is Princeton Plainsborough hospital in Trenton, New Jersey, now, young man. Could I speak with Dr. Martinez please?" The squeaky voice sounded agitated so I started up the stairs. They probably just wanted Dr. M for some trial or something.

I ran up the stairs to Dr. M's bedroom/office.

I burst through the door, "Hey Dr. M, phone."

She took the phone and gingerly placed it to her ear.

xXx

Val Martinez's POV

"Hello?" I asked, expecting either Max or a telemarketer. I was hoping for the former.

"Yes, Dr. Valencia Martinez?" A high pitched voice asked on the other line.

"This is she," Dang. It was the latter.

"Hello Miss, we have your daughter here in the hospital," She said in a rudely cheery voice.

Ella? No, Ella was upstairs in her room. So it must be…

"Max?" I said in a horrified gasp.

"It appears so ma'am," That rude high voice said.

"Where are you, I'm on my way."

xXx

Max's POV

No. I was not going to let them. If I changed into that hospital gown, they would all see my wings.

No. No. _No_.

"They are bound to find out sometime," Fang coaxed, pleading with me.

"No," I said for the millionth time.

"But Max, they can't treat you in your run clothes," Angel pleaded, her eyes swimming with tears.

She looked so scared. She hated to see me like this, I was practically her mom. When she found me awake, she was ecstatic. She laid beside me for three hours. Then Dr. Jerk said that I had to change _now_. Joy.

"Fine," I said with a sigh. Iggy, Angel, and Fang, especially Fang, reacted to my response with sighs and encouraging murmurs.

"Great," Dr. Jerk said, clapping his hands in mock sympathy. A nurse stood behind him, holding a hospital gown.

xXx

OKAY! If you like it so far, just wait for next chapter!


	6. Chapter 6

Alrighty then!

xXx

House's POV

I smirked as the nurse ushered everyone out of Maxi's room. What was wrong with her anyway? We tested her for Epilepsy and a billion other things…

I followed that Nick kid out of his girlfriend's room. The nurse closed the blinds and his face was a mask of worry.

"So," I said leaning toward him, "Have you tapped that?" I said, my voice full of humor as I gestured toward Max's room.

"No!" Nick yelled, his face turning red with rage and embarrassment. Lucas howled with laughter, and Molly chimed in a giggle.

He pushed my chest.

"Just back off okay?" He said through his teeth. Just then the nurse cracked open the door.

"Dr. House? There's something you need to see," She said, sounding anxious.

Lucas howled louder, this time Molly was the one to be loudest.

I walked into the room and saw Max, a single tear making a path down her cheek. I walked over to where the nurse was standing, holding open the back of her hospital gown. Sticking out of her hospital gown were…

"Feathers?" I asked turning towards her. Another tear made a small puddle on her hospital gown.

"From my…wing," She stuttered, her voice breaking on the last part of _wing_.

I stared. I glared. I wasn't quite sure how to respond. I walked over and grabbed her "wing". It felt like bone, she yelped when I pulled it back too far.

"I want x-rays," I said as I left the room, heading for Cuddy's office.

xXx

Cuddy's POV

_Knock, knock_

"Come in," I called, shuffling through papers. House walked in.

"You know that 'special' girl you wanted me to treat?" He asked, walking around my desk, picking up various items and putting them down again. He was nervous.

"Yeah?" I asked, still looking over a few papers.

"You have no idea how right you were," He looked up at me and smiled.

xXx

Max's POV

Humiliation. The only thing I felt when Dr. Jerk and Dr. Cuddy took me into the X-ray room and looked over my wing like I was a specimen. It was everything we had ever feared.

"Max?" Dr. Cuddy asked in a quiet voice, "Are all of you like this?"

I nodded quietly.

"We-We need to send these off to the lab in New York," Dr. House said to Dr. Cuddy, glancing at me occasionally.

"NO!" I shouted, "I mean, no one can know about this." I said, noticing their faces.

"Alright, Alright. Sweetie, who did this to you?" Dr. Cuddy asked in a soft voice.

"No one, we were born like this," I lied. Sometimes a lie is easier than the truth.

"What if you weren't though?" Dr. House said, staring off into the distance.

"We were," I said firmly.

"So, bird girl…Hmm…One seizure, we may be able to release you if you do better in a couple of days," Dr. House said. My face lit up, I could leave?

"Well, don't look so eager," He said acting like my reaction truly hurt him.

xXx

Fang's POV

_Are they taking X-rays? Do they work for Itex? Are they hurting her? If they are I'll kill him!_

My thoughts were full of anger as I waited inside Max's room.

"Watcha doin?" Max said, scaring me out of my slumped position on the chair.

"Max? Are you okay?" I asked looking at her tear stained face.

"I'm fine," She said clenching her teeth. I walked over to her and wiped a tear from her cheek with my thumb.

"I'll be okay," She said softly, I was almost stupid enough to believe her.

I leaned down so that I was centimeters away from her face, "I hope so."

And I kissed her.

Finally.


	7. Chapter 7

Max's POV

I didn't run. Maybe I am just really sick. No, I love him. I think he does too.

"Max," he said when we finally broke apart. It was more of a sigh then actual speech. I looked up at him and smiled.

"You didn't run," he said softly.

"Not anymore," I said, brushing some of his black hair back.

"You didn't run!" he said louder and more cheerily than last time. He enveloped me in his strong arms.

We stayed there for a very long time. He occasionally brushed my hair back and kissed my head softly. After about an hour he cleared his throat.

"Max? There's something that I have to tell you," he whispered into my hair.

"What?" I asked, looking up at him.

"I love-"

He was cut off because at that moment, I dropped to the floor, gasping in pain.

xXx

Fang's POV

"MAX!" I caught her before she could touch the ground. Not again!

I ran over and pushed the red button that I had seen Dr. House push last time. I laid Max on her bed and held her hand as the nurses piled in. My tears made splash marks on her sheets as they tried to pull me away from her. There was no sound, I could only hear Max's uneven and ragged breathes, could only see her lying limply as the nurses started the paddles.

"Clear!" A nurse shouted.

I watched as her form tightened and jumped as the paddles made contact with her chest. Tears made small puddles on the floor at my feet. She was having a heart attack. My Max was having a heart attack.

"Max you can't leave me now!" I shouted across the room, "You can't!"

Angel ran in and almost hit the floor. She held onto me as she sobbed. Iggy was close behind. I looked at him as tears ran down his face. It was mirroring every horror that I felt. My own tears blurred my vision as Dr. House walked into the room. He looked at me and my family, my flock, and walked out. Suddenly the machine on her right started to beat at normal intervals.

"She's okay!" A nurse announced. Then he looked at the machine and a look of horror crossed his eyes. Another nurse began to shake Max urgently, trying to wake her up. Iggy and I joined.

xXx


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry its so short...Only so much drama can be packed into each chapter.

xXx

Fang's POV

I sat there and waited for two days. For two days I sat and waited for the girl that I loved to either die or to wake up. Angel usually sat beside me and cried in Iggy's lap. Iggy only made some knock knock jokes to cheer Angel up. When it didn't work he just sat there and held her. In the middle of the second day Dr. M, Ella, Gazzy, and Nudge showed up.

"I'm here," Dr. M said, making her presence known. Nudge, Ella, and Gazzy filed in after her. They looked at the bed and saw a lifeless Max. Dr. M looked at me and I silently nodded. Tears streamed down everyone's face and Nudge choked back a sob. Gazzy tried to be tough but eventually he sat beside Iggy and cried his heart out. Ella sat beside her mom and they held hands while tears silently flowed from their eyes. No one talked for a long time. Finally everyone left to go check into a hotel. I was the only one who stayed.

I slept in the same chair that I had been in for almost three days. I dreamed that Max woke up and confessed her undying love for me. It was very fairy tale-ish. Finally at about dawn Max stirred. I ran over to the side of her bed and grabbed her hand. She finally opened her eyes and I kissed her right then and there. I leaned away and she looked back at me in shock.

"Max your awake!" I said in relief, grabbing her hand. She looked at me in confusion and pushed my hand away.

"Max?" I asked. Was she going to run again?

"What are you doing?" She asked.

I hugged her until _my_ arms hurt. She pushed my arms off of her.

"What do you think you are doing?" She asked in a tone that hurt me worse than a bullet in my leg.

"Max?" I asked her, confused.

"Get out of here, I don't even know you!" She screamed, pushing me off of her bed.

xXx

I threw open the doors of Dr. House's office. He snapped his head up and looked at me as if I was a very fascinated painting.

"FIX HER!" I screamed in his face.

"Is she awake?" He asked.

"SHE DOESN'T EVEN REMEMBER ME!" I screamed in his face.

He didn't answer, he just got up and made his way toward Max's room.


	9. Chapter 9

Hey Guys!

Sorry this isn't a new chapter-

I have a bad case of writers block!

But, I'm open for suggestions!

So please review your suggestions and let me know what my readers want!

Thanks.

Forever yours,

Dove


	10. Chapter 10

House's POV

I walked quickly into Max's room, almost flying down the hall. I whipped into her hospital room, only to see the teenager hugging her knees in fear.

"Max?" I asked hands up in a surrendering gesture as her wide brown eyes flicked to me.

"You're not a white coat," Max said, confused. A look of horror passed in front of Nick's face, his hand covering his mouth.

"What's a white coat?" I asked, confused by the couple's reaction.

"What do you want?" Max snapped angrily, she acted tough but she cowered into the corner of her hospital bed, "Are we in another part of the school?"

Nick gasped and a look of pure hatred flashed in his nearly black eyes, though I don't know who it's for. He crosses the room quickly and crouches by Max's hospital bed.

"Maximum?" He asked quietly, his eyes watering and his face was contorted in worry.

"Who are you? What do you want? Where are the others? Are they in a place like this? What-" Max was cut off.

"Slow down…" I said with a hand up, "Your name is Maximum?"

She glared at me, "Well it isn't a number if that's what you're wondering."

"Max? Listen to me. We aren't in the School anymore," Nick whispered, "Max, listen."

"Why should I? Where is my family?" Max spat.

"Max, it's me…Fang," Nick said.

"Fang?" I asked clearly the third wheel.

"No, no you're not," Max shook her head then looked back at Nick, "Fang?"

Nick nodded.

"But, you're all big," Max said, very confused, "Where are we?"

"Max, we escaped the school seven years ago. Don't you remember?" Nick asked.

"We escaped?" Max asked a look of joy on her face.

"Yeah, we did, we escaped. Angel has all of these super powers and Nudge never stops talking and Iggy is blind and Gazzy has his namesake all right. Max, we are all okay," Nick smiles.

"Escaped?" I ask even more confused than before.

"Then where are we now?" Max asked.

"You're in the hospital Max, that's why you can't remember. You had a heart attack," Nick holds her hand.

"If you're so old…than how old am I?" Max asked quietly.

"Sixteen," Nick said just as quietly.

"Holy smokes," Max whispered reaching to touch her face with her battered and much older than nine fingers.

"It's okay Max, it's all okay now, even though a lot has changed," Nick said wrapping Max in a hug as I walked out of the room.

-xXx-

Fang's POV

After Max had fallen asleep while I was explaining the last seven years, I headed downstairs to the cafeteria where Iggy, Angel, Dr. M, Nudge, Gazzy, an Ella were eating breakfast. Angel was quietly picking at her blueberry pancakes, and suddenly her head jerked up. She knew that Max remembered. She knew that Max remembered only the school.

"Dr. M, Ella, you need to leave," Her six year old eyes nearly popping out of her head with worry.

_She thinks she should still be back at the School?_ Angel's high voice interrupting my thoughts.

_I explained things but, yeah_. I thought back.

"Why? Is there something wrong?" Dr. M looked up at me, her eyes red and swollen.

"We can't leave!" Ella said from beside her mom.

"Fang? Spit it out," Iggy said in my general direction while Gazzy nodded enthusiastically.

"Max is awake," I said slowly and immediately relieved gasps escaped everyone's lips and they smiled at one another. There was mucho hugging. I just stood stiff as a board trying to get them all to shut the heck up, and with the help of Angel they all fell back into their seats.

"She, she doesn't remember things. She doesn't remember the last few years-," Iggy cut me off.

"So, Max, she doesn't remember us?"

"No, no she remembers us she just-," Angel interrupted me. The manners are quite abundant in our family.

"She doesn't remember us leaving the School. In her mind she's nine years old and she is still living in the School." I looked around at the horrified and disturbed faces. None of us liked to remember the earlier days of our existence.

"So you need to go," I said gently at Dr. M and Ella, "She doesn't know you yet, and I think it's more than she can handle right now. I'm sorry." The two nods and saying their goodbyes, tearfully turn to leave. That was easy. Moving on to challenge number two.


	11. Chapter 11

**I know it's been a while… A long while… But I revisited it and I have decided to start it up again… So, so, so, so sorry for the wait and it will never be this long again, I promise… but back to what you all want to read!**

-xXx-

Iggy's POV

How? Just…How? How is this fair? We finally get out of years and years of misery, a personal hell… We get out for years, and then the one who lead us out is sent back. Back, to all of that. How in the world is that fair?

Gazzy held my hand in his tight eight year old grip, pulling me along to Max's room. The whole place rank of antiseptic and I could feel the florescent lights on my skin, sharp and irritating. Of course this would send Max back to the School, the whole place rank of it.

I could hear the nurses giving patients medication, and I could hear families laughing and crying, comforting and joking. Everyone was constantly moving, buzzing around like bees in a hive. I could hear the swish of the carts on their wheels, the rattling of pills in their bottles, and most of all the annoyingly persistent beeping of the machines.

Everyone was in a constant motion of either getting better or getting worse. And then there was Max… doing neither of those things… physically getting better and mentally getting worse. Who knows though right?

Out of all of the noises in the hospital there was only one whimper, and that's how I knew we were in Max's room. Gazzy's grip on my hand tightened at the same time I heard him sniffle quietly. He was crying. I felt my own eyes prickling like they do right before the tears spill out. It's like how the dam cracks before it breaks down completely. I tried to push the tears away but I could tell that they were the persistent kind, like last year when me and Gazzy made this bomb with just about every chemical available around the house and we threw it in Max's closet but when we remembered we put too much chlorine in it and we tried to stop it, but it was too far into the process. It blew down the closet door. What I'm trying to say is basically it was too late to stop the tears. My own personal eye bombs were going to go off, like it or not.

Nudge was strangely quiet, I didn't hear a peep out of her the entire way there and of course you could just tell that Fang, hand in hand with Angel, were having their own private telepathic conversation in the back.

I immediately knew that someone else was in the room with Max, a woman by the smell of perfume and the unmistakable grumble of a man… the Doctor from hell.

-xXx-

Cuddy's POV

I tried to comfort the girl with wings, Max. I rubbed her back, slow strokes right in between her wings. She didn't cry much, just a few tears now and then. She told me about how she missed Fang, whoever that was; House said that it was a nickname or something for Nick. Max talked about how she had planned on getting out of the School or something and about how she couldn't believe she was already out.

"Max, did the people from that School give you your…umm…" I tried to get the words out, uncomfortable as she stared at me with her brown eyes, seeming so much more innocent than before.

"Wings? Yeah… they gave us all wings. Stuck us in dog kennels and left us to rot like science experiments," Max said, poking at her jell-o. Her face changed then, like she had a revelation or something.

"You know," She started, looking back up at me, straight in the face, her expression like she was sucking on lemons, "I still feel all cramped up, like we're still in those stupid crates."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing, who could do these things to kids?

-xXx-

Fang's POV

I walked straight in, letting Angel's hand go and watched as everyone in our family's eyes tear up as they saw Max, lying there seeming so broken and innocent. I walked over and sat beside her on her hospital bed, grabbing her hand, even though she still thought she was nine.

"You know," she started, already sounding more athoritive, "I'm starting to remember things, how things are now." She smiled up at me, that smile that I loved so much.

"That's fantastic, but we still need to know what the problem is," House said from his place by the door. As much as I hate to admit it, he had a point.

"That's great Max," I smiled anyway.

"So, you are getting better?" Iggy asked from the foot of the hospital bed. Gazzy and Nudge staying quiet, on either side of Iggy as Angel paced in front of the good Dr. Cuddy, who stood very professionally beside House. She stayed quiet, almost observing how we interacted. Stupid scientists are all the same.

"Yeah," Max nodded at Iggy as House took a deep breathe to contradict her.

"Yes, well we still don't know what was wrong in the first place," House grumbled from his place beside Cuddy. He picked up his cane and started swinging it around the air in front of him, "Normally problems don't just go poof, children."

-xXx-

Max's POV

During those three days I was back at the school. I don't know what I was doing there, but I was there. I wasn't nine years old anymore there either, I was 16, but nine was the last time I was conscious. I was the only one awake. The others were sleeping, not really sleeping but… not awake.

I woke up because they forgot to update the drugs I was on or something, I have no idea, but for three days I was awake. And now I'm not.

My room was dark as I called to Fang, I knew he was right there beside me, when we were awake and when we weren't, his crate was still right beside mine.

In seconds he was right there, holding my hand, squeezing it in a way that almost made me question reality, not this reality, but the real one. The one where we never left. The one where this was all just a simulcast version of how we would have done on our own, after all, during the three days of being awake, I did learn that we were obsolete… new versions of us were out slowly "improving" the world, while we stayed behind to play biology class.

"Fang?" I asked into the darkness, I couldn't even see his face.

"Max? What is it?" He asked sounding panicked.

"It's a lie Fang… All this, it's a dream. Fang, we really never left… They have us hooked up to drugs and machines. We are still there. We are still trapped in dog crates, being experimented on. Fang, we're still in hell."


End file.
